I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1475 

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2011 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. ZOE

LOFGREN of California, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. POLIS, 

Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. CLARKE of Michigan, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. 

HANNA, and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement 

programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Refugee Re5 settlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The United States has enhanced and accel2 erated its efforts to resettle Iraqi refugees since 

3 2007. 

4 (2) Resettlement in the United States remains 

5 an important option for Iraqi refugees, many of 

6 whom are living in Syria and Jordan and lack legal 

7 status or access to health care. 

8 (3) Many of these refugees are victims of tor9 ture and persecution, or were forced to flee because 

10 of support they gave to American military oper11 ations. 

12 (4) Refugees are often a product of human 

13 rights atrocities and war, making them likely to have 

14 suffered traumatic events which require the United 

15 States to offer them protection and meet their needs 

16 once they arrive here. 

17 (5) In fiscal year 2008, 13,822 Iraqi refugees 

18 were resettled in the United States, and nearly 

19 17,000 were resettled in fiscal year 2009. 

20 (6) Upon arrival in the United States, there is 

21 authorized 36 months of cash and medical assistance 

22 available to refugees, as well as access to social serv23 ices, such as job placement, from the Office of Ref24 ugee Resettlement, but in practice refugees receive 

25 only 8 months of cash and medical assistance. 


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1 (7) When given adequate support through the 

2 resettlement system, refugees can successfully be3 come self-sufficient and contribute positively to their 

4 communities. 

5 (8) Like millions of Americans, refugees are 

6 negatively impacted by the recession, and a recent 

7 report by the Georgetown Law Center indicated that 

8 in some areas as few as 10 percent of refugees have 

9 obtained employment at the end of the 8-month ben10 efit period. 

11 (9) State refugee offices and voluntary agencies 

12 lack the resources and data to increase staffing lev13 els to accommodate the large number of refugees in 

14 need of services. 

15 (10) ORR funding formulas are retroactive in 

16 nature, using refugee admission data from the prior 

17 3 years, so that large increases in refugee admis18 sions are not adequately reflected in the amount of 

19 resources provided by ORR. 

20 (11) The United States resettlement policy as21 sumes refugees will be able to quickly become self22 sufficient, while specifically offering resettlement to 

23 individuals who have specific vulnerabilities that in24 hibit their ability to achieve self-sufficiency and inte25 grate into society. 


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1 (12) Some refugees will have mental health dif2 ficulties associated with trauma or torture and this 

3 is one of the significant barriers to self-sufficiency 

4 and integration into a community when it is not ad5 dressed with adequate and appropriate services. 

6 (13) Secondary migration is not properly 

7 tracked, and resources are not available for States 

8 and agencies experiencing high levels of secondary 

9 migration. 

10 (14) Refugee services are provided by national 

11 resettlement agencies, community-based organiza12 tions, charities, and nonprofits and coordinated lo13 cally by State refugee programs, and all the organi14 zations should be supported in their mission to pro15 vide refugee services. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) NATIONAL RESETTLEMENT AGENCY.—The 

19 term ‘‘national resettlement agency’’ means vol20 untary agencies contracting with the State Depart21 ment to provide sponsorship and initial resettlement 

22 services to refugees entering the United States. 

23 (2) COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘community based organization’’ means a non25 profit organization providing a variety of social, 


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1 health, educational and community services to a pop2 ulation that includes refugees resettled into the 

3 United States. 

4 (3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist5 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

6 Health and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee 

7 Resettlement. 

8 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 90 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 5. ASSESSMENT OF THE REFUGEE DOMESTIC RESET12 TLEMENT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

15 of the United States shall conduct a study regarding the 

16 effectiveness of the domestic refugee resettlement pro17 grams operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

18 (b) MATTERS TO BE STUDIED.—In the study re19 quired under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

20 determine and analyze the following: 

21 (1) How the Office of Refugee Resettlement de22 fines self-sufficiency and if this definition is ade23 quate in addressing refugee needs in the United 

24 States. 


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1 (2) The effectiveness of the Office of Refugee 

2 Resettlement programs in helping refugees to meet 

3 self-sufficiency and an analysis of the unmet needs 

4 of the program. 

5 (3) An evaluation of the Office of Refugee Re6 settlement’s budgetary resources and projection of 

7 the amount of additional resources needed to fully 

8 address the unmet needs of refugees with regard to 

9 self-sufficiency. 

10 (4) The role of community based organizations 

11 in serving refugees in areas experiencing a high 

12 number of new refugee arrivals. 

13 (5) An analysis of how community based orga14 nizations can be better utilized and supported in the 

15 Federal domestic resettlement process. 

16 (6) Recommendations on statutory changes to 

17 improve the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the 

18 domestic refugee program in relation to the matters 

19 analyzed under paragraphs (1) through (5). 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

22 submit the results of the study required under subsection 

23 (a) to the Congress. 


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1 SEC. 6. ELEVATION OF THE OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESET2 TLEMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 411(a) of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1521(a)) is amended 

5 by striking the second sentence and inserting the fol6 lowing: ‘‘The head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement 

7 in the Department of Health and Human Services shall 

8 be an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services 

9 for Refugee and Asylee Resettlement (hereinafter in this 

10 chapter referred to as the ‘Assistant Secretary’), to be ap11 pointed by the President, and to report directly to the Sec12 retary.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) Section 411(b) of the Immigration and Na15 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1521(b)) is amended by 

16 striking ‘‘Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant Sec17 retary’’. 

18 (2) Section 412 of the Immigration and Nation19 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘As21 sistant Secretary’’. 

22 (3) Section 413 of the Immigration and Nation23 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1523) is amended by striking 

24 ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘As25 sistant Secretary’’. 


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1 (4) Section 462 of the Homeland Security Act 

2 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279) is amended by striking ‘‘Di3 rector’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Assist4 ant Secretary’’. 

5 (c) REFERENCES.—Any reference to the Director of 

6 the Office of Refugee Resettlement in any other Federal 

7 law, Executive order, rule, regulation, operating instruc8 tion, or delegation of authority, or any document of or 

9 pertaining to the Department of Health and Human Serv10 ices or the Office of Refugee Resettlement that refers to 

11 the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, shall 

12 be deemed to refer to the Assistant Secretary of Health 

13 and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee Resettle14 ment. 

15 SEC. 7. REFUGEE ASSISTANCE. 

16 (a) AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SERVICES FUND17 ING.—Section 412(c)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Na18 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(c)(1)(B)) is amended to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘(B) The funds available for a fiscal year 

21 for grants and contracts under subparagraph 

22 (A) shall be allocated among the States based 

23 on a combination of the total number or refu24 gees (including children and adults) who arrived 

25 in the United States not more than 36 months 


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1 before the beginning of such fiscal year and 

2 who are actually residing in each State (taking 

3 into account secondary migration) as of the be4 ginning of the fiscal year, the total number of 

5 all other eligible populations served by the Of6 fice during the period described who are resid7 ing in the State as of the beginning of the fiscal 

8 year, and projections on the number and nature 

9 of incoming refugees and other populations 

10 served by the Office during the subsequent fis11 cal year.’’. 

12 (b) REPORT ON SECONDARY MIGRATION.—Section 

13 412(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (814 

14 U.S.C. 1522(a)(3)) is amended by striking the word ‘‘peri15 odic’’ to ‘‘annual’’ and by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘At the end of each fiscal year, the Assistant Secretary 

17 shall present a report on these findings to the Congress. 

18 The information in the report shall include, but is not lim19 ited to, States experiencing departures and arrivals due 

20 to secondary migration, likely reasons for migration, the 

21 impact of secondary migration on States hosting sec22 ondary migrants, availability of social services for sec23 ondary migrants in those States, and unmet needs of those 

24 secondary migrants.’’. 


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1 (c) ASSISTANCE MADE AVAILABLE TO SECONDARY

2 MIGRANTS.—Section 412(a)(1) of the Immigration and 

3 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(1)) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(C) When providing such assistance, the 

6 Assistant Secretary shall ensure that such as7 sistance is provided to refugees who are sec8 ondary migrants and meet all other eligibility 

9 requirements for such services.’’. 

10 (d) NOTICE AND RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, but in no 

12 event later than 30 days before the effective date of the 

13 amendments made by this section, the Assistant Secretary 

14 shall issue a proposed rule of the new formula by which 

15 grants and contracts are to be allocated pursuant to the 

16 amendments made by subsection (c), and solicit public 

17 comment. 

18 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 this section shall become effective on the first day of the 

20 first fiscal year that begins after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 SEC. 8. RESETTLEMENT DATA. 

23 The Assistant Secretary shall expand the Office of 

24 Refugee Resettlement’s data analysis, collection, and shar25 ing activities in accordance with the following provisions: 


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1 (1) DATA ON MENTAL AND PHYSICAL MEDICAL

2 CASES.—The Assistant Secretary shall coordinate 

3 with the Centers for Disease Control, national reset4 tlement agencies, community based organizations, 

5 and State refugee health programs to track national 

6 and State trends on refugees arriving with Class A 

7 medical conditions and other urgent medical needs. 

8 The Assistant Secretary shall utilize initial refugee 

9 health screening data, including history of severe 

10 trauma, torture, mental health symptoms, depres11 sion, anxiety and PTSD, recorded during domestic 

12 and international health screenings, and Refugee 

13 Medical Assistance utilization rate data in collecting 

14 this information. 

15 (2) DATA ON HOUSING NEEDS.—The Assistant 

16 Secretary shall partner with State refugee programs, 

17 community based organizations, and national reset18 tlement agencies to collect data relating to the hous19 ing needs of refugees. This data should include the 

20 number of refugees who have become homeless and 

21 the number at severe risk of becoming homeless. 

22 (3) DATA ON REFUGEE EMPLOYMENT AND

23 SELF-SUFFICIENCY.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

24 gather longitudinal information relating to refugee 


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1 self-sufficiency and employment status for the period 

2 of 1–3 years post-arrival. 

3 (4) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The data col4 lected under this section shall be updated annually 

5 and the Assistant Secretary shall submit a report to 

6 the Congress containing that updated data. 

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